Adventures Down Under series by Robert Elmer (Australian pioneer days)
Discussion starter: Who remembers, any more?
Most of the background from Adventures Down Under was taken from eyewitness accounts (journals), history books, museums and other rare or out-of-print resources. Look for Australian history in the library, and you may not find much. Does that mean the history wasn't important? Discuss how important history can be forgotten if it isn't written down. How might that affect our view of true history? Can history be written in different ways? For instance, how would an Australian aborigine view history differently than an ancestor of an English settler?
Book 1: Escape to Murray River
Between 1788 and 1868, some 160,000 prisoners were taken by ship from England to Australia. Many were Irish, and they were often given seven or ten-year sentences for things like stealing sheep or breaking a window. The problem was that during the late 1700s and early 1800s, English jails were horrible and overcrowded. What was the solution? Pretend you are the king or queen of England in the year 1850. What solution do you propose? Why? Write a declaration. Australia's gold rush brought thousands of treasure-seekers to the colony in the 1850s. Settlers from all over the world would follow, discovering places like the beautiful Murray River Valley, Kangaroo Island, and the eastern coast. Draw a map of the Murray River Valley, showing the river and settlements.
Book 2: Captive at Kangaroo Springs
After gold was discovered in Australia in 1851, former prisoners and other new people wanted to get rich quick. Of course not everyone did. And just like in the American West, gangs of outlaws soon sprang up to rob stagecoaches and banks. In Australia, the people called them bushrangers, just as they called their woods and backcountry the bush. The most famous bushranger was Ned Kelly, a son of Irish immigrants. Though he was eventually caught and hanged for murder when he was only 25, he grew to become a legend, a sort of Australian Robin Hood. Find out about Ned Kelly and his suit of armor. Explain why you think people liked him, or not. Then look on the map and find the city of Echuca, on the Murray River. At one time it was called the Chicago of Australia. Find out why. Pretend you work for the Echuca Chamber of Commerce in 1865, and write an ad telling people to come there.